Raven's Brain v1.0: Raven's Brain

Raven's Brain - Lost In Transition

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 02:36:48 GMT

Just a quick note to let everyone know that I am in the process of relocating this blog. I will publish the new feed and info as soon as everything is set up and new posts will be coming soon from the new blog.

This blog currently has over 230 subscribers via Feedburner, 100 subscribers at Bloglines, 50-something at NewsGator, and numerous links and references from other blogs. I'm averaging 1,000 page views a day, over 30,000 visits a month so it's a bit disappointing to make the move. I would love to just move the feed but Windows Live Spaces has many short comings (which is why I'm moving) and a big one is the lack of comment functionality. Oh, WLS has comments, it just requires that a user sign up with a WLS account in order to leave one (want to guess how many people actually take the time?). And no - they don't provide the API to comments, which might have been hackable but...

It's been almost three years and I keep hoping the platform here would grow more robust, but now the lacking functionality (no scripting, only basic HTML, no support for widgets, no anonymous comments allowed, no anti-spam control, no comment moderation section, no statistics or control panel, blah, blah, blah) is crippling growth and stifling conversations.

I've had the domain RavensBrain.com for a while, as well as RavenYoung.com, so I will definitely be using these going forward. I hope everyone will stay tuned and update their RSS readers and site links to the new site feed, when available.

Stay tuned!

-Raven

Raven's Brain: It's Alive! It's Alive!

Mon, 19 May 2008 18:14:34 GMT

I've been a bit brain dead lately but believe I've managed to resuscitate it to a somewhat respectable level - It's Alive! It's Alive! - and hopefully my noggin has more to offer than Frankenstein's Monster.

I hear from people when posting gets light and know folks are looking for interesting, unique, quality content from the blog's they subscribe to. Here's a look at what's coming to Raven's Brain over the next few weeks:

Rolf responded to my request for guest articles and has already submitted a great piece titled Heaps of Risks (Why Managing Too Many Risks is Risky) which will be posted shortly. You can read more about Rolf and his thoughts on a variety of subjects at his blog: http://clearconceptualthinking.blogspot.com/
Jerry Manas recently published an e-x-c-e-l-l-e-n-t book called Managing the Gray Areas: Essential Insights for Leading People, Projects & Organizations . Guest voice Lisa Forsyth is wrapping up a detailed write-up on this MUST read for managers, leaders and the rest of us looking to manage those, well, "gray areas" - the business world isn't black and white and this book will certainly help you grow. You can learn more about Jerry's book, his upcoming seminars and more at his website: http://www.marengogroup.com/
Michael Michalko's book Thinker Toys and the accompanying Think Pack have been on my Management & Leadership Books list since this blog was created in Fall of 2005. Imagine my surprise to recieve an article from him in response to my request for guest articles! Regular readers know I try to mix up content and look at topics not traditionally linked to project management - like creative thinking and brainstorming - so of course I'm ecstatic to have an article from a noted author and super creative thinkinator posted at my humble blog. Look for Michael's article titled THOMAS EDISON to be published soon, and in the meantime check out his blog www.creativethinking.net to learn more about him.
I recently test drove a killer business application called Smart Draw. I originally expected (yet another) Microsoft Project knock-off, or similar, application, but was pleasantly surprised to find a great tool dedicated to business graphics. Think Visio but more visual and much easier to use - less robust - yes, but SmartDraw makes up for it with killer graphics that will make your presentations pop and documentation stand out. They do offer a free trial, you should check it out as the few hundred dollars for the application are well worth all the benefits and functionality, not to mention the edge it'll give you! I'll do a more detailed review soon, until then check out more on SmartDraw here: http://www.smartdraw.com/

There is of course a backlog of feeds, posts, articles, papers, etc. to catch up on and share - if there's anything on your mind you'd like to share I'd love to hear from you! Also, I'm still collecting guest posts - let me know if you're interested! raven_young AT hotmail DOT com

posted by Raven Young under Raven's Brain
Tags: Raven's Brain, Raven Young, Lisa Forsyth, Jerry Manas, Michael Michalko

How To Leave A Comment For Raven's Brain

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 22:06:24 GMT

I created another windows live space called "Raven's Brain On Comments" to allow users at this site to leave comments without signing up with Microsoft or WLS. If you're not familiar with the story, see the clip below

How To Leave A Comment For Raven's Brain

Windows Live Spaces (WLS) requires that a user create a Spaces, Hotmail, MSN, other account in order to leave a comment for a WLS blog - such as my current blog Raven's Brain. I've received countless emails from folks who wanted to leave a comment on one of my posts but didn't want to have to register for yet another web service, and so I've created this (lame) solution so users can leave a comment at my blog Raven's Brain without signing up or divulging personal info.

To leave a comment on a post:

Simply click "Add a comment" at the bottom of ANY post and use the following info to "Sign In":

Login: RavensBrain@live.com

Password: comment1

Note: You will see a message saying you are required to have an account to leave a comment - click "Sign In", enter the login info above and you should be taken back to the page to leave a comment. It might be a bit clunky, but at least you'll be able to leave your thoughts without a WLS account.

Be sure to leave your name, details and blog/website info so I'll know who the comment came from.

So, unless you want to sign up and create your own account, feel free to use the above info to log in and comment away on any of my posts. I know I'm missing out on a lot of great discussions and interesting insights with my blog comments locked down, so hopefully this option will allow others to contribute their feedback and share their own opinions! I'm also aware that this info might be used for nefarious reasons and reserve the right to remove this account and feature-rich option to comment should it be abused, misused, etc.

Thanks for playing along!

Raven 'round the rosie

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:26:54 GMT

One big bummer with using Windows Live Spaces as my blogging platform is that users have to actually sign up for a WLS account in order to leave a simple comment. Obviously, not a lot of folks want to take the time to set up another online account just to leave a comment, so I get a lot of emails with comments and accolades, and mentions in posts at other sites and blogs. I don't often do this, but I've received some great feedback and had some interesting exposure lately, and wanted to share here:

New Ventures: New Book on Project Portfolio Management - Johanna Rothman's writing a new book on PPM and referenced my cartoon on priorities. I'm really looking forward to what she has to say on priorities in the new text, as well as her perspective on PPM in general.
Daria from the New LinkedIn Group for Project Management Bloggers wrote to say she's enjoying my blog and the company she works for, Wrike, added me to the blogroll at their PM blog: http://www.wrike.com/projectmanagement.htm. I really enjoyed Andrew Filev's post Bridging the Three Gaps in Project Management and there looks to be tons of other great content to read through.
Jurgen wrote to say he follows my blog and shared his own site as well: NOOP: Management of Software Development. Check out his latest post: Why Managing Small Projects is Harder - good stuff!
Behavioral Change & Silver Bullets - Bruce over at the Liquid Planner blog has a nice write up on the myths of silver bullets and he gives me a shout out. I really like the analogy he uses to put the focus on changing behavior rather than searching for the elusive and - let's be honest - nonexistent silver bullet!
I've been corresponding with Paul from Idea Sandbox on his tool the Idea Sandbox Big Dig and a newly launched, killer and f-r-e-e online prioritization tool called "Idea Sandbox, Prioritizer". Read more about Prioritizer, a unique tool that helps you prioritize tasks in a snap online, or give it a test drive now! I loved playing with Idea Sandbox, Prioritizer, and plan on writing a more detailed review soon. FYI - I may be a geek but I'm no dork - I would have used a phrase other than "by golly" in the my email if I knew it might get published on the 'net and used as a testimonial for such a cool tool. Hmm, maybe I *am* a dork.. <delete>by golly</delete>
Edward messaged regarding my water me cartoon on priorities - he liked it! - and PMI. He says "I try to use a PI (Priority 1, etc.), PII, and PIII method to avoid just the situation you spoke about.", and I think this is a pretty common tool for getting a good handle on priorities. Ed - couldn't leave you a message back at your site- but thanks for your comments!
GlobalProjectManagement.org added me to their active project management feeds and in their rolling updates widget as well. It's awesome to be listed iat a pm site with a global perspective!
Episode 028- Project management in the real world with Elizabeth Harrin: You can listen to the podcast or read the article, where I get a brief mention in the "Women in Project Management" section. Great interview with Elizabeth and a perfect reminder for me to write more about grrlpower and project management.
Ludovic from PMToolbox contacted me and now his website is syndicating my blog "Raven's Brain", categories Project Management and Project Management Humor
Rafael Peixoto de Azevedo gave me a quick mention in an interesting post titled The Trust Requirement. The blog itself is very new, only two posts at the moment, but the goal of the site sounds interesting: Synergising the Enterprise through Innovation & IT. I hope to read more from Rafael soon!
Did I ever mention that Bas De Baar from softwareprojects.org started a new series called Proud Postings and I got in on the second week? Check out Proud Postings: Raven's Brain. My thanks to Bas for publishing some of my content at his esteemed site!

Ok, enough horn tootin' - thanks to all who helped my blog continue to grow and develop!

Note: Awesome raven image via Naturally Speaking, Nature Photography and Conservation, photo by Lauren Darcey. All rights reserved. Photographer Website: http://www.perlgurl.org. As *a* Raven, I have a special place in my heart for ravens (the birds, yo!). For an excellent write up on these superior birds, their behavior, skills and problem solving abilities, check out this great write up Resourceful Ravens - it includes additional incredible images, tons of details on ravens, video clips and other interesting info.

posted by Raven Young under Raven's Brain
Tags: Raven's Brain, Raven Young

Short break

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 04:16:17 GMT

Raven's Brain is on a short break, my apologies for the lack of posts! I had an unexpected trip to CA come up and will be back home in Seattle later this week. I should be back to posting by the weekend.

-Raven

Geek Love

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 17:55:26 GMT

Here's a quick diversion from the regular focus of this blog. I'm a little late in posting this - shoulda had it up for Valentines day! Nonetheless, here's an amusing video that that had the geek in me chuckling.

If you didn't find this funny you're either too cool, fool, or your hidden nerd has finally died ;)

And now, back to your regular programming...

Your Kung Flu is strong..

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 17:47:38 GMT

Your Kung Flu is strong but, after a week+ in bed and a myriad of medicines and concoctions digested, I am stronger! Or...at least, uhm, less ickie! hmm..

I think we all know the importance of washing hands frequently while sick - I probably used up an entire bottle of purell this bout! - but, since it IS flu/sickness season, I thought I'd pass on these helpful links on dealing with a cold or the flu so that you too can battle Kung Flu!:

What Can I Buy for Fast Relief from a Cold or the Flu?
#1 Should I take a decongestant or an antihistamine?
#2 Is it safe to take a decongestant if I have high blood pressure?
#3 How often should I use nasal spray?
#4 What's the deal with cough medicine?
#5 What should I take for fever and aches?
#6 What's best for my sore throat?
Sick? Don't Go To Work!
'Presenteeism' May Be Bigger Problem Than Absenteeism
More cold tips from readers - USA Today
Sick parents go to work, stay home when kids are ill
Cold & Flu Report 2007-2008 | CNN
Prevention can be the best treatment for colds and flu. Get tips and strategies to bypass those sniffles, sneezes, aches and chills and sail through the cold and flu season.
Germ warfare: How to protect yourself
7 myths and facts about preventing the spread of germs
Why people come to work sick
6 easy ways to sick-proof your winter
Don't become another sneezy statistic
Stop your sniffling! Tips on preventing a cold

Take care of yourself this winter!

-Raven

Lisa Forsyth: Meet My Bad Brain

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 03:20:33 GMT

A post by Lisa Forsyth, guest voice inside Raven’s Brain.

My brain rarely cooperates with me because of lapses in my synapses. Sometimes I hate my brain. I don't understand it. I want so much more than it provides. I want what everyone else has. I want to remember your name, someone I work with everyday, but it's gone. I stare at your face, seeking some visual cue to bring it back, but nothing. I picture other people we have in common and events we attended together, hoping somewhere along the line I will hear someone else say your name, and then I'll remember. I’ve been your manager for two years. I know your name, I know it well, but I can’t remember your name. I want to remember why I just walked into this room. I needed something but I'm just standing here. I try to trace my steps backward: I was sitting on the couch, got up to get this thing I can't remember, walked into this room where it was supposed to be, now what could it have been? You wanted a drink of water you yell from the kitchen, knowing me better that I know myself. I want to remember what I am looking for when I am looking for it. I rifle through my bag looking for my car keys but someone walks past my office. My attention moves to the footsteps. I resume looking. I look and I look and I look. I come across the keys. I keep looking. I don't know what I am looking for. I just know I am looking so I keep looking. I want to make it through a day without spilling something on myself, walking into a wall that's always been there, or tripping over the same piece of furniture again and again. I want to be able to prepare a meal without cutting or burning myself. I want to be able to follow a movie with more than one plot twist. I love movies. They are one of my passions. I want to discuss the movie I saw last night, but I don't remember anything about it, just that I saw it. "Hey Lisa, remember the part when..." No, actually, I don't. I won't. I can't. I want so badly to remember what you just said, but it's gone. I stare at your face, look into your eyes, anything, please just come back to me. The harder I try to remember, the further away it gets. What was I trying to remember again? I slow the brain right down. R.e.m.e.m.b.e.r. R.e.m.e.m.b.e.r. I slow it down so much, the word itself loses meaning. R.e.m.e.m.b.e.r? I know the word, but it doesn't make sense. The context is gone. It is reduced to a series of sounds that should but don't trigger something. I don't remember what remember means. I want the woman I love to feel treasured but I can't remember what we talked about soon after we stopped talking. I want to be more attentive but I can't get outside my own head. Her birthday comes and goes and I want so much to remember, and I do, but I can't remember at the right time. I plan on getting something or doing something to make her feel special but I don't act on the plan. I forget the plan. I try to sleep at night and that's when I remember the plan. OK, get up and write down a reminder. I’ll forget I wrote a reminder. I won't remember to look at the reminder. If I find the reminder a day later, I won't have any idea what it was about. In fact, I probably got distracted while writing it. It probably says something like "go tomorrow" because my brain was done writing before my hand even started. Go where tomorrow? Do what tomorrow? I know I wrote the note for a reason and I want to remember what that reason was so I can understand what the note says, but the context is gone. The note becomes words on paper the way words become sounds without meaning.

So what's my problem and why am I writing this? I love to write and I resent my brain. I am bright, creative, energetic, and successful. I have a Master's Degree. I have a job I love, a team I adore, and a compassionate and understanding boss that supports me. I have ADD. I withdraw in group situations and can't sit still in meetings. I make sudden movements I can't control. I fidget and twitch. I think everyone is watching me. I drop my pen. Bend down. Pick it up. Drop it again. Over and over and over. I am embarrassed every time it falls. I pick it up and set it down so I don’t continue dropping it. I tune out, the channels change. I cannot attend to what is being said. I pick up the pen. I fidget. I drop the pen. I fear discovery. If you knew I had ADD, you would question everything I did. You would think I am an imposter and wonder what I am doing here. So I hide. I am tired of hiding. I have much more to offer. This is who I am. And this is my bad brain.

What you won't find in my posts
Reading through my posts will not provide you with a diagnosis. You may identify with one, some, or all of problems listed above, but even that doesn’t mean you have ADD. The diagnosis is a tricky thing because each symptom could point to a different problem. After eighteen years and numerous misdiagnoses, I was labeled as ADD. Do I finally have the correct diagnosis?

What you will find in my posts
I'm not sure exactly what you will find here yet, but I do have some idea of how I would like it to develop. It will include some self-analysis. I want it to be positive, yet realistic. You are perfect the way you are! Ok sure, but I still hate my brain. I want it to be helpful so I will share coping skills for ADD in the workplace. I will post on a variety of other subjects as well. There is much more to whom I am than just ADD, but ADD informs everything I do, including how I manage, what I struggle with most when managing projects and people, the organizational tools I find helpful, and the type of books I enjoy reading. You will find posts on these topics, and many more. Above all, I want you to find me here. This is who I am. And this is my bad brain.

2007 Link Mish Mash: General & Project Management, Leadership, Personal Growth, Business, Tech & more

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 01:19:39 GMT

2007 kind of fizzled out here at Raven's Brain - I got caught up in the holiday whirlwind and didn't get a chance to wish everyone Happy Holidays and a wonderful New Year -- so Happy 2008!

I also didn't get to a lot of posts and articles saved throughout the year and, though I know lists of links are not the best way to share great content, I do need to clean out my bookmarks and saved items to make room for the new year. Categories covered are Project management, Agile, Management & Leadership, Business, Software & Technology, Personal Growth and GRRRL Power.

Below is a list of the great stuff I found throughout 2007:

Project Management

Advice from the Fiddler on the Project
I listened to Rich Maltzman talking about his forthcoming book Fiddler on the Project (co-authored with Ranjit Biswas) on Controlling Chaos, way back in July. We’ve been corresponding since, trying to find time to talk about project management and authoring. I finally got round to asking him some questions last week, and from the sounds of it, the Fiddler book is going to be a really interesting read..
Agile or Waterfall…does it matter?
First off…let me answer the question: Does it matter if I use Agile or Waterfall methodologies in my project? My opinion is no…it doesn’t matter…but there are a few caveats to that answer. Read on..
Organizational Alignment and Project Success
Organization Alignment seems like one of those ‘touchy feely’ things that most technical folks would rather not discuss but it’s actually quite relevant to success in todays technology and project driven organizations.
How to create a Pareto Chart (see below)
Pareto Charts are commonly used to identify the source of chronic problems / common causes in a process. The Pareto principal commonly states that 80 % of the trouble comes from 20 % of the problems. A Pareto chart is a graphical technique which quantifies problems in order to position efforts to be expended in fixing the “vital few” causes versus to the trivial many.
Pareto And Management (see above, below)
In 1906, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto created a mathematical formula to describe the unequal distribution of wealth in his country, observing that twenty percent of the people owned eighty percent of the wealth. In the late 1940s, Dr.Joseph M.Juran inaccurately attributed the 80/20 Rule to Pareto, calling it Pareto’s Principle.
How useful is the Pareto Principle? (see above)
The Pareto Principle is often quoted as a way to save time and effort and thus lower pressure. In theory, it’s a great idea. And, if you look back at the past, it can seem quite easy to identify the 20% of situations, actions, or even people that generated 80% of the returns. But is it quite as simple as it appears?
Requirements Value
This article will explore a different approach to gathering requirements that would not only deliver a full release, but maximize the business value as well.
Requirements Practices Every Project Manager Must Know
The practices presented in this article--to build a requirements tree, create and use a requirements traceability matrix, and manage to requirements baselines--will make a significant difference in an organization's success rate and promote improved partnership and standing within the enterprise.
Perception and Reality in Stakeholder Management
Even when everything seems to be going well, things may not be as rosy as you think. All the facts might point to success, but perceptions can often trump that reality. Here's some practical advice on aligning how things are and how they appear.
Leadership-Powered Project Management
Read on for successful traits to propel you from project manager to leader--and discover the single greatest and most underestimated leadership attribute you should not ignore.
How to Improve Project Sponsorship
Some years ago, I worked as a PMO manager for a multinational company in which business managers were assigned as project sponsors for the whole project life cycle. Results were not very good because project managers often felt alone when dealing with customers. As a solution, I organized a workshop meeting with the project sponsors...
Project Management Confidence
If you have been doing project management for a while, your confidence has probably gotten an occasional shaking. And the resulting lack of confidence hurts you, but it also hurts your team members who need you to be confident and not self-conscious.
Study for the PMP Exam on Your iPod
Cornelius Fitchner, the project management podcasting pioneer (see The PMPodcast.com), has done it again. This time, he has created The Project Management PrepCast(tm), a new and unique way to study for the PMP exam.
Marc Evers: Failure is not an option … it’s a necessity
Lots of IT projects are said to fail - many people are complaining, calling shame on the IT profession. An example is the recent article Okay to fail from the CIO Weblog, which talks about poorly run projects and underperformance.
What Project Managers Need To Know About Testing
What happens when project managers of cross-organizational teams don't have all the cross-functional team knowledge, such as testing, they need to manage all the teams? In this week's column, Johanna Rothman explains that managers in this situation might have a recipe for disaster. But with careful planning, any project manager can quickly turn it around and create an efficient team and a career development opportunity for everyone.
The problems with problem statements
Johanna Rothman: Too Simple a Definition of a Project

Agile

The High Cost of Management Indecision
Rob Walling writes about the high cost of management indecision on software projects.
Agile Project Management: What's In It For The Customers?
One question I'm asked frequently is how Agile project management is different from traditional project management.
Paul Duvall - ?Am I Agile or Not??
This is one of the more annoying questions I get. Nothing against the people that ask this question. It’s a perfectly reasonable question for someone to ask.
No Really, What is Agile?
My friend Rich Zeliff commented on my post which attempted to define Agile...
Top Ten Agile Analogies
What is Your Impression of Agile?
Layman's Manifesto
Here is Jason Yip's more personable version of the Agile Manifesto.
Scrum and XP Practices: Cross Reference
I've had several people tell me how useful the Scrum/XP cross-reference in our book is, so I thought I'd share it with you, too.
Agile Project Management Manifesto
Similar to the Agile Manifesto, a group of ten people have gotten together and worked out a small number of principles for "modern (agile/adaptive) (product/project) management".
Is the Agile Manifesto Appropriate for My Domain?
A post by Jason Yip prompted a thought. Is the Agile Manifesto Appropriate in my domain. Or for that matter, in what domains is the Agile Manifesto appropriate?

Management & Leadership

How to swim with sharks
I came across this article the other day, and it was remarkably suitable. So I’ll share for those who are where I have been. HOW TO SWIM WITH SHARKS: A PRIMER By Voltaire Cousteau
Leading Geeks
Ralph Nader once said, "I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers". In the IT world is is hard to produce leaders and it is doubly hard to produce and keep followers.
There's a hole in your side of the boat
How Can a Leader Avoid Becoming a Selfish Jerk? 245 Answers on LinkedIn
How Common Sense Leaders Avoid Alienating the People They Lead
Common Sense Advice for Developing Leaders
More on Teamwork
Questions leaders ask themselves
Constructive conflict is essential for creating commitment to decisions
Leaders connect with the people
13 Sources of Workplace Irritation
Who gets to you at work? What gets to you at work? What are those things that irritate you the most?
Motivation: Gag me with a Carrot
STOP! No more books about employee motivation with a carrot or batch of carrots on the cover. I am sick of carrots and sticks. Don’t treat me like an elephant. Carrot and stick (also spelled “carrot-and-stick”) is an idiom used to refer to the act of rewarding good behavior and punishing bad behavior.
7 ways to be a damn good manager
37 Unhabits of Highly Successful Managers
The best of Slacker Manager
Delegation is art and science
Delegation. Does the word evoke strong, perhaps other-than-positive, emotions in you? If it does, you’re not alone. If there is a single most misunderstood or misused concept in business, the delegation process is the leading candidate.
The forgotten power of conversation
Talking to others, rather than at them, is becoming a forgotten art Conversation is becoming a lost art, replaced by endless talk. To converse is to share ideas and learn from one another in the process.
Are we losing our understanding of trust?
It’s a mistake to underestimate the importance of trust to a civilized life If you google the word “trust,” it can be a surprising experience. I was more than 20 pages into the results before meeting a single instance of trust in the sense of belief in something or someone.

Business, Software & Technology

Training Requirements for 2008
What with a growing shortage of technical talent, companies have to pick up the slack and spend more on training. What training innovations can we look forward to? Read on..
Got pecha-kucha? (see below)
PowerPoint is like the weather or Dancing With the Stars: Everybody complains about it, but nobody does anything. Enter Mark Dytham and Astrid Klein, two European ex-pat architects in Tokyo, who've come up with an elegant hack. Use 20 slides. No more, no less. Each slide must be on the screen for exactly 20 seconds. (The presenter doesn't control the slide advancer.)
Pecha Kucha (see above)
My ebook Really Bad Powerpoint has generated plenty of mail and comment in the years since I wrote it. I just wish everyone would read it. Now, though, Rick points us to Pecha Kucha Night.
There is no Bug. It is not the Bug that Bends, it is Only Yourself
Desiging Software is the same as Predicting the Future
How to Build a Somewhat Successful Blog: 16 Lessons I Have Learned
2008 Predictions - SOA, Grid, SCA, Web 2.0, REST, etc.
Social Network Aggregation, Killer App in 2008?
Managing scattered online Social Life on multiple Social Networking sites, I sense, will become a Killer App Category 2008. There are several startups now in the "Social Network Aggregation" space and this App Category should diversify and catch momentum in 2008.
Dvorak Looks Back At 'Another Crappy Tech Year'
The Vista Death Watch is PC Magazine's most popular column. That is just one of many items in Dvorak's review of yet another 'disappointing' year in Technology. 'I was not a fan of 2007. It was another crappy tech year...
How To Lose Your Job, Thanks To The Internet
The New York Times has up an article discussing the trend of employers tracking the 'free time' activities of their employees via their web presence.

Personal Growth

Don't multitask
Kevin Fox identifies multitasking as one of the main reasons why projects take so long and are still completed late. He says there are three central reasons organizations find themselves in the trap of multitasking...
Taming the Savage Beast: Dealing with Negativity at Work
Have you ever worked with one of those people who are so unfailingly negative that they tend to suck all of the life out of a room? The person who has an objection to every idea, a snide comment for...
Venting, Whining, and Ranting: Dealing with Frustration at Work
Today I'd like to poke a little bit at the idea that venting is a healthy workplace behavior. Most of us have vented to a coworker from time to time - and I'm certainly no exception. When frustrations rise and...
The Art of Winning Others Over
Remaining an Artist
Katie Ledger’s blog features a witty and insightful speech titled ‘What Should We Teach Our Children’ by Sir Ken Robinson at the famous TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) symposium which includes a powerful message about embracing failure to drive creativity..
How To Become An “Active” Listener
Your role in the leadership situation alternates between sender and receiver of messages. The very best leaders devote a large portion of their time listening - in order to better understand. Some Thoughts About Good Listening: Creative ability is geared to perceptiveness. Your ears are as important to perception as your eyes.
Dissatisfied at work? Perhaps it’s you
Just about every month, there’s a new research report detailing the seemingly higher and higher degree of worker dissatisfaction. Whether it’s a Gallup poll or a Conference Board report, the results are strikingly similar — workers are becoming more and more dissatisfied with their work.
5 Reasons Why You Should Simplify What You Say, and How to Do It
“You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can’t get them across, your ideas won’t get you anywhere”. Lee Iacocca One of the trickier things about social skills is to get your message across. One reason why people have difficulty with this is because they use more words than needed.
How to Make a Great First Impression
First impressions can be quite important. Everyone stereotypes everyone on first impression, even if we are reluctant to do it. We all get a first impression of a new person that creates a mental image of his or her personality in our minds.
First Impressions
I was recently interviewed by Josh Hinds of BusinessNetworkingAdvice.com, and he asked me a very good question: "How do you generally engage a person in conversation upon first meeting them?"
Ten Rules of Effective Language

GRRRL Power

The Gender Gap
Each week Computing and Computer Weekly rehash old material about how important it is to get more women working in IT and how terrible it is that there is unfair treatment in the workplace. I’m sure there is unfair treatment in many workplaces, although I’ve been fortunate enough never to experience any.
A question of shopping
There were plenty of questions about project management at last week’s womenintechnology event on how to be a successful woman in IT. Mainly people were interested in how to break into project management.
The Ripple Effects of A**holes: When Women Are Treated Badly, Everyone Suffers
Tech Republic’s Women in IT series: Esther Dyson
Sonja Thompson, a news editor at Tech Republic, has launched a Women in IT podcast series, which consist of interviews of women who are currently working in IT, their careers and technology in general.

posted by Raven Young under Raven's Brain
Tags: Raven's Brain, Management, Business, Leadership, Agile, Project Management, Technology, Personal Growth

Happy Thanksgiving

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 00:12:42 GMT

Happy Holidays everyone!

I've received a few great comments regarding the free book offer in this post. Remember that emails must be received by Monday. Why not take a break from the holiday rush and send a quick email with your own "tip of the day" to get in the mix? email raven_young AT hotmail DOT com

Hope everyone has a happy holiday!

p.s.
This picture was received in an email with no info on who to credit. Send me an email if you know it's origin.

Raven's Brain: Updated Stats & New Reactions

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 21:36:47 GMT

My blog will soon pass 80,000 hits. Raven's Brain is growing like crazy and this November will be the 2nd Anniversary of my humble little blog! The first year only saw 10084 total page views and on January 31st, 2007 I posted a brag about reaching 21693 page views - You see, I doubled my first year page views in like 3 months - yippee dippee doodah. So in the last 8ish months my brain's online repository racked up close to 60,000 hits. I'm averaging over 2500 hits a week and that ain't bad for a small, unadvertised blog. I hope to pass 100k by the end of the year, I don't know why - it's just a personal nuerotic blogger goal.

Alexa.com doesn't play well with Windows Live Spaces blogs so I'll have to rely on Technorati for additional stats. I remember when I was excited to drop below 1 million on Technorati. They used to have a slogan that ran on the main page "There's 55 million blogs, some of them have to be good", so to be listed under 1 million was cool. Then I dropped to around 500k - nice. Now I'm hovering around 157K in their listings and my "authority" level has grown to 39. I don't get any medals or awards - not even cashola. I blog for the fun, experience and hope to see continued growth on my labor of love in the next year. You can read more about my blog Raven's Brain on Technorati here: http://www.technorati.com/blogs/ravenyoung.spaces.live.com?reactions.

For (geeky) fun here are some of the latest "reactions" to Raven's Brain, via the technorati link above:

Time Tracking from Happy Mommy Thoughts:
Today I came across a blog post on Raven’s Project Management Blog where she interviewed Curt Finch, the author of All Your Money Won’t Another Minute Buy. I found it quite interesting and entertaining too - Curt dyed his hair blue when he lost a bet If you have a minute, check out the post and see if you learn a thing or two about time tracking and how you could use it to your benefit
What a Want Ad Really Means from KnowHR:
I spent a little time today working on a variation on a job description. It was pretty different from what the client was using as an example. Way different. Which is why I thought this table that translates want ad jargon into real words was so apropos.
Raven reviews and interviews Curt Finch from Life in America:
Raven's Project Management Blog does a great job on many subjects. Raven has especially done a great job on an interview with Curt Finch on his new book on time tracking: All Your Money Won't Another Minute Buy.
All Your Money Won't Another Minute Buy? The Interview Of Author Curt Finch Explains It All from Ms. Latina Renee:
Well, its a new book written by Curt Finch that insists on valuing time as a business resource. We were able to gain insight from the interview and the book review over on Raven's Project Management Blog.
Free Requirements Management Webinar on Sept. 25th from Undocumented Features:
Raven over at Raven’s Brain just posted about an upcoming Free Requirements Management Web Seminar on September 25th. More details on Raven’s site, and more details after that on Sticky Minds. The seminar is being led by HP and Blueprint and might turn up some value. If you have the spare hour, do check it out!
In Good Company from the Juggling Elephants Blog:
Raven Young of "Raven's Brain" put "Juggling Elephants" in some pretty good company. Read her thoughts at:
http://ravenyoung.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!17376F4C11A91E0E!3774.entry
Requirement management articles from Ranjit:
Raven's Brain: Some Good Requirements Management Articles
Six Excellent Requirements Management Articles You Should Read from Undocumented Features:
Raven over at Raven’s Brain again brings us some wonderful content worth repeating. Here’s a link to a collection of six excellent requirements management articles.
The Latest Management Fad: One that Finally Makes Sense from PMThink!:
If you're getting weary of managers who lead by MMA (Management by Magazine Article), you'll appreciate this bit of humor, courtesy of Raven Young, from the wonderfully eclectic Raven's Brain blog site.

For those who haven't checked out Raven's site, it's one of the best blog sites around. The problem is, there's so much great content, you're liable to not get anything else done.

These reviews and links are AWESOME!! Thanks to everyone who visited, commented, emailed, sent LinkedIn invitions and even posted about Raven's Brain. It's nice to have regular readers and a wider audience who let me know when they find something useful or interesting at my blog.

Musings at Windyridge Blog Plugs Raven's Brain

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 17:27:38 GMT

I'm starting to get a few plugs from other blogs on Raven's Brain (yay!) and just found a new one at a blog called Musings at Windyridge:

Leadership Tips
If you're looking for a blend of humor and good business information geared towards project and program managers, Raven's Project Management Blog is a good place to go. Here, Raven, who has 13 years of project management experience, with a focus in IT, and Web and software development, blogs about leadership skills, personal growth, productivity and communications. She also reviews tools, books, and software. I know several folks that would benefit from reading this blog and you don't have to be a project leader to benefit. Anybody in supervisory positions would find this blog helpful.

How cool! I love hearing what others think about this blog and how useful they find my posts. It's a great feeling to get some recognition for something that you're doing for fun and experience. Thanks to Windy Ridge for taking the time to do the write up!

posted by Raven Young under Raven's Brain
Tags: Raven's Brain, Raven Young

Big wheel keep on turning...

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 00:07:13 GMT

After taking a brief braincation--a break from blogging and even email!--I returned to find the e-beat of Raven's Brain went on:

A blog called Single Source For Writing did a nice write up on Raven's Brain. Though I don't blog specificaly about property management, it was nice to read something from someone that liked my blog and found it useful.
Todd expanded on a past and very popular post Deciphering the job description with his own: My Job Description. Sweet.
Kelly did a brief review of Raven's Brain at her blog That's what she said. I love the domain www.LifeAsKelly.com! Muy Bien!
I was contacted by one of my favorite bloggers/authors - Johanna Rothman. What a privelege to be connected to someone I admire and whose blog's I regularly follow: Managing Product Development, Computer World Blog, and Hiring Technical People. Johanna also hosts and speaks at Amplifying Your Effectiveness (AYE) conferences. Tres' Chic!
Miki from Leadership Turn emailed me about being a guest writer on an excellent leadership blog--being asked to participate is an honor!

It's nice to watch my humble blog grow and lead to new connections, relationships, opportunities, and tons of new resources. Rock on!

Big wheel keep on turning,
Proud Mary keep on burning,
Rolling, rolling, rolling on the river.

Braincation

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 18:29:09 GMT

Raven's Brain is currently on vacationn - a braincation. We finally landed at a hotel that had real internet access, as opposed to the last place that pointed at the telephone line when I asked about their internet access options. I haven't had AOL or any other dial-up app for a-g-e-s. And, even though our "city view" room is actually a view of the very large parking structure and a U-Haul lot to the left, my brain is still relaxing and enjoying this brief and much needed respite. For now, it's time to find the closest casino and get to gettin'!

I drank the LinkedIn Kool Aid

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 02:58:47 GMT

Yep, I finally joined LinkedIn. After months and months (and months) of thinking "what's the big deal?" I finally gave in, signed up and began building my profile and making connections. LinkedIn is a useful tool for keeping track of your professional network. You can search by colleague or company name, along with advanced criteria, which is useful for finding all those co-workers you promised to keep track of but you moved, they moved, email addresses or jobs changed.. Of course you can add other people, friends, family, whoever, but it depends on how you plan on using LinkedIn

It's also handy to send out or reply to job openings if you have a solid network of connections. Once you get to 3rd connections (someone connected to someone who is connected to someone who is connected to someone connected to you) it gets complicated, I am not sure how useful they are. I understand the concept - the more connections you have, the more you have in your overall network and the better opportunities for finding the right person or job, but it still seems to get a bit funky to me.

Also questionable are the coveted "recommendations". Don't get me wrong--I now want to track down folks from years back to get at least one for each job, but that's part of the problem. We are likely to contact those that we had a great working relationship with--who is giong to seek out that person you always butted heads with for a recommendation? The more recommendations you have doesn't necessarily make you a better employee, boss, team member, peer, or... ;)

Ah well, I'll be fully assimilated soon and will no longer remember anything but pure LinkedIn bliss. If you have any comments or tips to share regarding LinkedIn - Send me an email and let's talk! raven_youngAThotmailDOTcom

Somebody's Watching Me

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 01:13:31 GMT

If the song wasn't bad enough - somebody's been watching me and has rendered an image to prove it:

They got it right except there is usually music or TV (or both) on in the background and I am not the proud owner of a sleep mask, as depicted in the last frame ;)

posted by Raven Young under Raven's Brain
Tags: Raven's Brain, PC humor, Computer Humor

Raven's Brain: Photo Album updated (for real!)

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 15:44:43 GMT

Users of Windows Live Spaces or subscribers to any WLS feeds might notice frequent and random updates of blog photo albums. I even had a note up at one point letting my site visitors know it wasn't *me* re-publishing my album daily, but the publishes were coming less often and I thought the defect might be fixed. Now the issue seems to be back - I've gotten several notices that my album had again been re-published (sigh). This post, however, is a real, actual update to my blog photo album! If you don't want to see some adorably cute pics of my kids, er, I mean animals - you should definitely skip this post. BTW - For some reason new photos are added to the end of the album and no sorting options are available. Sooo if you want to check out the new pics just start in reverse ;)

Olive is a white lab, a little chubby but she makes up for it in spunk and cuteness
Grace is a great dane/collie mix (!!) 157 lbs - a big girl with bark and love to match
Moose is a tubby tuxedo tabby that is too adorable for his own good
Ben is an all black rescue kitty that is always talking or eating, unless he's napping
Our 5th kitty Nikki is shy and not as hammy as the rest of the brood, thus no pics

posted by Raven Young under Raven's Brain
Tags: Raven's Brain, Raven Young, Cute Animal Photos

Awesome Guitar Skills

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 16:39:41 GMT

My mom sent me this awesome video of some amazing guitar playing and I thought I'd share. I can barely play guitar the traditional way and this guy plucks, strums, strokes and makes his strings sing while sitting with the guitar laying flat on his lap!

Link to video: http://www.funnyjunk.com/movies/671/Guitar+Skills/

I can't quite make out who the artist is from the logo at the beginning of the video but Mr. Plucky sure can play an axe!

****7/17 Update****

I removed the embedded video from this post as it would only load with auto-play functionality enabled. Click the link above to check out some sweet sounds and killer guitar skills.

posted by Raven Young under Raven's Brain
Tags: Raven's Brain, Guitar Video

Sweet Ride: An innovative Diesel Motorcycle

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 15:06:08 GMT

Jack has a post on a sweet diesel motorcycle: Build Your Own Diesel Motorcycle. The bike is called Die Moto and may not the prettiest ride you'll ever see but, after checking out the website, it does appear to come together nicely after fairing and trim is added. Not sure what the ride would be like - loud? Know I'd love to watch Die Moto's attemp at the land speed record for diesel bikes though!

Check out Jack's post: http://zo-d.com/blog/archives/design/build-your-own-diesel-motorcycle.html
He has a link to a larger pic of the stripped bike above, more info on the engine specifics and more

Check out Die Moto's website: http://www.thecrucible.org/about/diemoto.html
More photos, design and trial run videos, and lots more info

posted by Raven Young under Raven's Brain
Tags: Raven's Brain, Motorcycles, Biodiesel Motorcycle

Neat-O: Stunt/Trick "Driving Skills" video

Fri, 18 May 2007 00:52:20 GMT

My dad sent a cool video clip of some killer driving stunts & tricks: slides, 360s, 540s, two wheel driving while passenger changes tire, jumps and more. Honestly don't know if this is unedited video, but it's fun to watch none the less. Check it out here:

http://www.glumbert.com/media/driving

posted by Raven Young under Raven's Brain
Tags: Raven's Brain, Raven Young

Coming up for air

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 17:30:15 GMT

I've been offline for the last 10 days or so, taking a break and doing some upgrades on our old craftsman house while my girlfriend was on vacation. The first day we reviewed the WBS (work breakdown structure) or "list of tasks" for our project and headed out for supplies and ideas for decision points. Both of us are PMs so we tried to keep the home project limited to two rooms with tasks manageable and realistic for the timeline we had. Of course we started cutting scope halfway through, due to exhaustion, budget and time constraints, but the end result was pretty close to what we had envisioned in the beginning - an updated and more appealing living room and bedroom. 2 new ceiling fans, one a replacement for dead living room unit and a new fixture for the bedroom, help keep the house cooler, the newly painted walls really brighten up the living room and new track lighting and a wall sconce add much needed light in the evening. We have some lingering tasks that I'll be finishing over the next few weeks and of course this work just makes us want to redo the whole house! Working on an old craftsman house, coming up on 100 years old!, is an interesting undertaking in itself - edges don't match, nothing is square, texture was smeared all over the corners, edges and ceilngs, so taping/painting was more work than we had planned for, and the electrical work was a bigger pain than anticipated due to many, uhm, creative efforts of previous tenants. Ah, the joy of living the cliche "nothing's as easy as it seems".

ok, now the truly hard part - going through my RSS feeds to see what I've missed over the past 2 weeks and get back into the groove..

My books on Team Dysfunctions, High performance Orgs, and Silos, Politics & Turf Wars got a free trip to Palm Desert

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 18:06:34 GMT

User error on my part sent my recent amazon.com order all the way to Palm Desert - I wish it would have been me instead! I'm bummed because they should have arrived last Wednesday but since *I* shipped them to the wrong address, they need to be returned to Amazon by the recepient, restocked, refunded and then reordered. I'm an impatient shopper so I'll probably just reorder them now and let the whole return dance take it's course. I'll have to write more about the books later but here's the lowdown for now:

The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization
By: Jon R. Katzenbach, Douglas K. Smith
Silos, Politics and Turf Wars: A Leadership Fable About Destroying the Barriers That Turn Colleagues Into Competitors
By: Patrick M. Lencioni
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team [Audiobook]
By: Patrick Lencioni (Introduction), Charles Stransky (Narrator)

posted by Raven Young under Raven's Brain
Tags: Raven's Brain, Raven Young

I am STILL not randomly updating my photo albums..

Sun, 28 Jan 2007 21:21:54 GMT

Earlier this month I posted a quick blurb to let readers know that I was not updating my Spaces photo albums. I figure people that subscribe to a feed don't want to be pestered with notifications of updates of the same 7 or 30 photos in an album - LAME. After doing a bit of searching and reading about problems others are experiencing, I'm thinking I should be happy my photos aren't being randomly lost! Sooo... my apologies for the frequent, random photo album updates. Please ignore and pretend they never happen(ed) I usually write a post when uploading photos so at least you'll know when the updates are real. 'Nuff said!

I am not randomly updating my photo albums..

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 00:05:08 GMT

I recently subscribed to my blog to test RSS feeds and have noticed a lot of random updates on my photo albums. Sometimes it seems an album (1 or more) is re-published after I create a new post, other days I get four album updates and I hadn't posted or even visited my blog in several days. I'm sure there's a forum I could search for similar issues with Windows Live Spaces, but I'm too lazy to spend my time on this silly issue. I only mentioned it because I didn't want my 3 regular readers thinking I was some kind of freak with my photos. Freak I AM, but not about my photos (just everything else!)..